1Jesus was standing on the shore of Lake Gennesaret, teaching the people as they crowded around him to hear God's message. 2Near the shore he saw two boats left there by some fishermen who had gone to wash their nets. 3Jesus got into the boat that belonged to Simon and asked him to row it out a little way from the shore. Then Jesus sat down in the boat to teach the crowd. 4When Jesus had finished speaking, he told Simon, "Row the boat out into the deep water and let your nets down to catch some fish."

5"Master," Simon answered, "we have worked hard all night long and have not caught a thing. But if you tell me to, I will let the nets down." 6They did it and caught so many fish that their nets began ripping apart. 7Then they signaled for their partners in the other boat to come and help them. The men came, and together they filled the two boats so full that they both began to sink.

8When Simon Peter saw this happen, he knelt down in front of Jesus and said, "Lord, don't come near me! I am a sinner." 9Peter and everyone with him were completely surprised at all the fish they had caught. 10His partners James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were surprised too.

Jesus told Simon, "Don't be afraid! From now on you will bring in people instead of fish." 11The men pulled their boats up on the shore. Then they left everything and went with Jesus.

In his sermon based on Luke 5.1-11, "The Unexpected Twist and Turns in Life," Brent Porterfield tells of a funny surprise a friend shared with him...

A friend told me about being in a boat hunting Canadian Geese in the dead of winter on a freezing lake. Bone cold the three of them in a 16-foot aluminum boat held out for a few more minutes of light and the last chance at a goose. Sure enough their PATIENCE is rewarded. Overhead they hear a flight. Each of them fire their long goose guns straight up and two of the biggest birds come tumbling down out of the sky. For an instant they were exhilarated; then horror griped them. One of those birds was headed straight for the boat. 35 pounds of goose at 90 miles and hour. When they finally hit the boat, it nearly sunk it and them with it.

Porterfield gives a comment on the above story, as it applies to the Luke passage: Sometimes you get what you want but it comes at you from a different angle.

What does this surprising turn in the Luke story remind us of? The narrative shows Simon Peter coming to a decision by a growing involvement with Jesus. First, he lets Jesus use his boat. Next, he follows Jesus' directions and lowers his nets ~ which he does against his "common sense." Peter, then, sees the divine potency as responsible for the catch of fish.

The recognition does not lead Simon Peter to follow Jesus. He must be further prepared before. He says, "Lord, don't come near me! I am a sinner." Experience of the holy often frightens and repels, for true holiness evokes a sense of unworthiness or smallness before the Divine Presence.

Jesus affirms Simon Peter: "Don't be afraid! From now on you will bring in people instead of fish." The promise, like the surprising catch of fish, surprises Simon Peter. The promise follows a response of humbleness and opens a fresh future for him.

The story shows us that the disciples James and John, along with Simon Peter, following Jesus' surprising manifestation of holy power, left their nets to follow him. Verse 11 reads: The men pulled their boats up on the shore. Then they left everything and went with Jesus.

This story follows the same sequence as Isaiah 6.1-8, often referred to as Isaiah's call. Each story has a moment of divine revelation, a call to serve others, and confession of sin. Like Simon Peter, Isaiah got a big surprise, and it led to his spiritual calling.

Often, it seems, a surprise precedes our accepting a call to a service that will open for us a new future. Life is somewhat put out of typical normalcy, for Spirit acts as an intrusive presence, and this upsettedness becomes, if we accept it with humble trust, a window onto the Divine Presence. A new start begins, larger than the life we knew before, and we are blessed with a return to a stability as we continue following Jesus.

Contemplation is practice in this opening to the holy Presence of Love. We faithfully open our hearts, ready for the Inner Voice of Love to surprise us and lead us to a "place" we have never been before. Contemplation, then, is practice in living by faith, which is living with readiness for Grace to surprise us. This takes love and humbleness, and one never fails, then, to know life as sacred adventure.

Within, therefore, the mystical opening of the heart to the holy presence of Love, there is always the same end. That end is to serve others in Love and by Love. Grace's surprises are joined by a growing relationship with Divine Love and desire to give of oneself in and by Love to other creatures. In growing in the Christ-Consciousness, which is Love, into the field of service, we take within us a being-centered in God-Within and, thereby, are grounded in Love within service and not grounded in service or the one we are serving. At best, regards this, we can say that the service and one served are united in God with us as one Love.

How is this uniting possible? Again, like Simon Peter and Isaiah, Love prepares us by Love and for serving by Love. This is done unmediated as we in contemplative Quiet hear the heartbeat of Love loving all beings. As spoken well by St. John Saba, referring to the disciple whom Jesus loved reclining on his breast at the Last Supper: Place your head on His chest, like John, and listen to His heart that beats with love for the whole world.

*Quote of Saba from mycopticchurch.com; the sermon by Porterfield is at www.sermons.com; this writer was assisted in the treatment of the Luke story by Abingdon's Commentary).

*Brian K. Wilcox lives with his wife, Rocio, their two dogs, St. Francis and Bandit Ty, and their fish, Hope, in Florida. Brian is vowed at Greenbough House of Prayer, a contemplative Christian community in Georgia. He lives a contemplative life and inspires others to experience a deeper relationship with Christ. He advocates for a spiritually-focused Christianity and the renewal of the focus of the Church on addressing the deeper spiritual needs and longings of persons and empathic relating with diverse spiritual traditions, East and West.

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